Die In Peace

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Question:
Hello! My name is K......... I live in Norway where I am studying nursing. I am writing an assignment about how to treat dying buddhists pain and I have a few questions related to this assignment: Is there anything a nurse working in a western hospital should know about buddhism to be able to treat the dying buddhists pain/illness? I've heard that a buddhist shall not be given medication which makes him drowsy when he is dying. Do you have alternative ways to ease his pain? What do a buddhist think about pain and illness? I hope you can help me answering these questions. Best regards, K.......

My Comment:

Hi K.......,

Thank you for asking me. I think we have to separate the issue into two aspects.

One; it is the relationship between a patient and accepted conventional medical care. I would say your job and responsibility concern this aspect. The other aspect is related to the patient's religious (or spiritual) belief. You are not responsible for this aspect as you are not trained or required to cater for everyone's belief or for that matter, everyone's whims and fancies.

Buddhists have a very different view in relation to life and death, especially in the eyes of an ordinary Caucasian with a Christian tradition and culture. It is very difficult to understand Buddhist concepts if one is not willing to open one's mind to a new paradigm of spiritual interpretation.

Buddhists are also ordinary mortals, subject to pain and sorrow, especially when the end is near. They are no different from anyone. Unless the patient is a very disciplined Buddhist, the standard curative care should be good enough. The best you could do is to follow his wishes within reasonable limits.

In the Buddhist perspective, birth and death is part and parcel of life. In Buddhist training, we are taught to contemplate this reality and inevitability of old age, sickness and death; so that when the time comes we can face death with equanimity. We believe that the mind is a different entity in itself. When the body cannot sustain itself, the mind will continue on its own journey in another life. It is therefore very important that the last thought moment of the patient be very peaceful before his last breath, for it will influence the next stage of its existence, which we call rebirth.

Under ordinary circumstances, it is easy to let the patient die in peace with full consciousness until the last moment. But when pain exists, it is a very different matter. It is up to the individual to choose according to his level of spiritual maturity and his threshold of pain.

There was this Buddhist English gentleman who was a very devout Buddhist. He suffered great pain in his last days. Initially, no pain killer was given as requested by him. However, when his days came nearer, the pain was unbearable, and for all compassion, pain killer was administered.

In Buddhism, there is no strict commandment to be followed blindly. The Buddha advised us to use our human intelligence and common sense to lead a harmless and noble life so that we can die in peace, hopefully without pain.

Smile from justinchoo :-)